46 BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



than the middle toe, and of equal length ; the claws of the 

 middle loe large, and pectinated on the sides, those of the 

 other tois small. 



Genus CAPRIMULGUS, Linn. 



Bill very short, with the gape, extending under the eyes, 

 very wide, and furnished with long strong bristles ; the 

 culmen curved, and, the sides much compressed to the tip, 

 which is hooked and emarginated ; the nostrils lateral, tubular, 

 with the opening large, and partly exposed. Wings very 

 long and pointed, with the second quill the longest. Tail 

 rather long, broad, and more or less rounded, or ver^' long 

 and strongly forked. Tarsi shorter than the middle toe, 

 strong, and more or less clothed with plumes. Toes strong; 

 with the lateral toes short and equal ; the hind toe very 

 short, the middle toe long, and armed with a broad serrated 

 claw. 



67. Oaprimulgus Natalensis, Sm., Zooi. s. a., 



PL 99. 



General colour variegated rufous- white, yellowish, and 

 reddish-brown ; scapularies marked with oblong blackish- 

 brown spots ; on the throat in front a triangular white mark ; 

 the four external wing-feathers brownish-red, each with a 

 white patch. Tail banded with brownish-black. Length, 

 9" 3"' ; wing, b" 3"' ; tail, 4" 6'". 



Mr. Svrainson, in alluding to the difficulty of describing the singu- 

 larly variegated, dull-coloured plumage of this family of birds, makes 

 the following remarks : — " We might almost say, that in regard to 

 colour, if a person has seen one species of Cajp7'irmdgus , lie has seen 

 all. There are, it is true, trifling variations, but tbese are sometimes 

 so slight that none but an acute ornithologist would detect them ; 

 while, from their very nature, they are so difficult to describe, that the 

 most laborious descriptions fail to convey their difi'erences to the mind 

 of the reader ; the different shapes of the marks, bands, and spots, the 

 manner in which they are blended, and the diversity of tints under 

 which the different colours of brown, grey, rufous, and whitish appear, 

 often upon a single feather, in these parti-yoloured birds, defy all clear 

 description, and render it impossible by these indications only, to 

 discriminate the species." 



Fully coinciding in these views, which apply equally to most of the 

 partridges, I purpose simply to indicate our species of goatsuckers by 

 some particular point in their appearance, referring the student to 

 those works in which more elaborate descriptions have been given. 



Dr. Smith says that this species may be readily distinguished by a 

 number of strongly-marked and well-defined oblong, liver-brown 

 spots, each mord'.or less distinctly edged with white, or light buff, 



